


The Glass Parade

by ChuckHedge



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: BAMF Piper, Cat and Mouse, Heed the violence warning, M/M, Psychological Warfare, Secret Organizations, bamf Drew, demigods gone rogue, no such thing as prison for demigods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-15 22:55:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5803528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChuckHedge/pseuds/ChuckHedge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bryce Lawrence was far from the first demigod to walk among mortals with bad intentions.</p>
<p>Nico was far from the first demigod to put a stop to it.</p>
<p>And well, defeating Gaea, a feat like that gets everyone's attention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enter Sandman

α

With the exception of a few shadow travel induced comas, sleep wasn't something that came easy to Nico di Angelo. And even when he managed to catch the elusive thing, he couldn't afford to rest too deeply.

For much of his demigod career, he didn't have anyone to watch his back, or a safe place to rest his head. The world is a dangerous place for a kid on their own, and for a lone demigod even more so. He could be attacked at anytime, so he learned to be a light sleeper, to keep his sword within reach, to wake at the slightest indication that he wasn't alone. It was the only way to survive.

And things only got worse after Tartarus, after the jar. There were too many times sleep was too dangerous a thing. Too many times there was too real a chance that if he went to sleep, he would never wake up again.

Even after four months of living at Camp Half-Blood, one of the safest places a demigod could be, the habit was hard to kick.

The inside of Hades Cabin was pitch black at night, and Nico found comfort in it, nearly always had. Still, he couldn't sleep, couldn't shrug off the feeling of restlessness, couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he had with Jason at dinner that night.

Over the last few months, Nico was slowly adjusting to the unusual and frankly bizarre idea that someone wanted to have him around, and for nothing but the benefit of his company. People tended to need Nico, for one reason or another, whether they knew it or not, whether they liked it or not. They needed Nico at the battle of the labyrinth and in Manhattan, they needed him to find out the secrets of Luke Castellan and the Doors of Death. Everyone always needed him, but no one ever wanted him. Don't get him wrong, it's nice to be needed but...

That night, when he'd questioned him, Jason smiled at him from across the table and shrugged.

"I just like you being around--simple as that."

He had said it like it was nothing, but for Nico, it really meant a lot. It was everything really. Heat came to his cheeks, and for a while he said nothing, just poked at his food while Jason finished off his burger.

Eventually, Nico found his voice again.

"Can I ask you something?"

Jason nodded.

"Why did you decide to stay at Camp Half-Blood? Didn't you grow up in New Rome? Don't you have friends there?" It was something Nico had always wondered. Especially since, with the exception of Piper, Nico was the only person Jason spent any real time with.

Jason was silent for a moment.

"It's kind of weird, but after Hera messed with my memories, New Rome doesn't feel the same. My time there doesn't feel real."

Nico thought that was strange. Once he started to remember bits and pieces of his past, they felt like such an undeniable part of himself, they felt like the only home he would ever know.

"Maybe it wasn't," Nico said unthinkingly.

Jason's brows furrowed, and Nico had never seen his eyes so troubled, so unsure.

It took Nico a moment to realize what he just said, and as soon as it registered he tried to take it back. "I was joking, Jason. I didn't really mean anything by it." The words felt hollow in his mouth, and he hated himself for every speck of uncertainty in Jason's eyes.

Finally, Jason smiled, a small, forced smile absent joy or meaning. "Yeah. I mean, how crazy would that be, right?"

Jason had excused himself quickly after that, and now he was one more reason Nico couldn't get to sleep.

He just laid there, in the safety of the dark and the silence, all too awake and restless.

So Nico knew immediately when something was wrong.

In an instant he was on his feet and out of his cabin, his bare feet skimming across the cold grass as he ran to Aphrodite Cabin.

Piper's life force was...he didn't even have words to describe it, it was so wrong, someone was--it was just so wrong.

Piper started to scream. The light had just flickered on in Aphrodite Cabin when Nico threw open the door and ran in.

Inside, the kids had just been shocked awake, wondering what was happening. Drew Tanaka stood at the light switch, a dagger in hand. Before anyone else could move, Nico was running towards Piper.

She was thrashing around in her bed, screaming. His heart seized when he realized the red all over her bed, splashed across her sheets and Piper herself.

"What the hell, di Angelo--"

Nico ignored Drew. "Piper, Piper!" He put his hands on her shoulders and tried to shake her awake, but her eyes refused to open, her body jerked violently under his hands, and she continued to scream that horrible scream.

In the back of his mind, he heard Drew shout for someone to get a medic, but Nico knew that wouldn't help. Despite all the blood, Piper remained unhurt physically. Despite its agony, her life force remained stable. It didn't so much as flicker. It just...it just...everything felt so wrong.

"What the hell is going on, di Angelo? How did you--why are you here?" Drew came up on Piper's other side, started to run her hands over Piper's body, looked for wounds to try to staunch the flow of blood, because even now, it looked like Piper was bleeding.

When she couldn't find anything, her already pale face dropped another shade. Piper continued to scream and thrash, pain openly displayed in every line of her body, her hair matted in red.

She looked at Nico, panic in her eyes. "What--what is this?"

"I'm not sure, but we need to get her to Clovis." Drew studied him a moment, then nodded, and Nico shadow traveled the three of them into the Hypnos cabin.

β

Everything started with a dream.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence among demigods. To dream about the future, or the past, or even this very moment, miles and miles away, about people you knew and people you hoped you would never meet.

But Piper had never had a dream like this before. She had never dreamed that she was someone else.

She was running, her high heeled shoes clicking rapidly against the asphalt. Piper hated high heels, you couldn't pay her to wear them, yet the tight fit of them around her feet felt perfectly natural, her steps steady and sure for all their desperation.

She felt the fabric of her short dress sweep across her thighs as she ran. It clung to her body in a way she would never be comfortable with, especially now. The thin white cotton was soaked the color red, the fabric sticky and painful against the gaping hole in her side. She clutched at the wound uselessly, warm liquid escaping the cage of her fingers with the gait of her body. She noticed that her skin was pale, her fingers painted a muted pink. Her hands were without the hard won calluses she got learning to wield the Boread's sword.

Her chest heaved desperately, her breath fast and wet in the humid summer air. Her cheeks were wet, tears of pain and terror dripping down her face, the taste of salt fast on her lips. Her body felt tired, but adrenaline kept her legs pumping, a sense of terror inset deep into her bones.

"Please, somebody help me!" Her voice was young, maybe a year older than Piper's sixteen. It was a strange sensation, to be at once Piper Mclean and somebody else entirely.

The midday sun burned hot in the sky, its heat bearing down upon the busy streets. People were everywhere, making the most of a summer's day. They were gathered around tables outside restaurants, carrying shopping bags from various stores, or just hanging around and enjoying each other's company.

But it was like she didn't exist. No one looked at her. No one reacted at all.

"Please!" She grabbed the closest man to her, her hands leaving red marks on the bare skin of his arms. He looked confused for a second, and for the first time Piper noticed the heaviness of the mist in the air, how it swirled around and clung to the people, invisible to mortal eyes but undeniable to her own.

The man acted like he didn't know what was grabbing him, and in the next breath his eyes took on a glazed quality. He brushed her hands off of him, and then he was turning his back on her, his eyes clearing.

With eyes that were not her own, Piper watched him walk away. He walked away like she wasn't standing there bleeding in the middle of a busy street, walked away like he didn't have blood and desperation hand printed on his arms.

"Please, anybody!" She sobbed. She looked around frantically, grabbing anyone she could find, hoping someone, anyone would take notice. Nobody did. They all pushed her away like she wasn't there, like she didn't matter. Like she was nothing.

Around her people talked and joked, the atmosphere light and friendly. She could hear children laughing in the distance, and nothing had ever felt so wrong. Her gut clenched painfully. Despair and grief almost knocked her off her feet, such was the force they hit her with. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening.

"Please!" She grabbed the sleeve of a passing woman, watched again as there was a moment of confusion, a glazing of the eyes, and then the woman was rolling her shoulders, dislodging her shirt from Piper's grasp. She walked away and didn't look back.

Her wound pulsed at her side, burning with pain. She couldn't stop crying.

"What's wrong with you people!"

"Isn't it obvious by now that they can't hear you?"

At the sound of the voice her breath seized. Her heart beat desperately against the cage of her chest, frantic like the wings of a hummingbird.

Six of them had come after her, and they had her encircled before she even knew they were there. Nobody around them paid any mind, avoiding the group as they passed by.

She knew she should run, but somehow she couldn't. She could only stand there, her limbs frozen in terror. She was surrounded. No one would help her. Where could she even go?

A woman broke from the circle and approached her. She looked about 28, with long hair the color of copper. Her eyes were a warm chestnut, and her face would have been beautiful if not for the twisted curve of her mouth, the cruel gleam in her eyes. The woman was dressed fashionably, with dark skinny jeans, a graphic top, and high heels that clicked along the asphalt as she approached. She carried a purse over her shoulder, and from it she withdrew a long, sharp blade. It gleamed in the sunlight.

As the woman came to stand before her, Piper felt utterly helpless. She willed her body to run but it just wouldn't listen to her. Maybe she had lost too much blood. Maybe she had gone into shock. She couldn't breathe.

"Why are you doing this," she sobbed, fresh tears making their way down her cheeks. "Please, I didn't do anything!"

Laughter came from behind her, right against her ear, and Piper startled. One of the men had gotten close when she was distracted. Like the woman, he was also wielding a knife. Piper spun halfway around and backed up, keeping both of them in sight.

"Aw, she didn't do anything Helen." The man looked to be in his early thirties, with white blonde hair shorn close to his head and pale grey eyes. He was tan and wore casual clothing, a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

Helen smiled, the curve of her lips sharp as a dagger's edge. "Of course she didn't Philip." She looked Piper in the eyes. "She couldn't do anything even if she wanted to."

"Then wh—" Piper was cut off as she felt a knife sink deep into the small of her back. Someone had got her from behind. Pain flared from the new wound, and when they twisted the blade, her vision flickered for a moment.

After the first blow, the woman wasted no time stepping intimately closer and buried her knife all the way to the hilt in Piper's stomach, not once but twice in quick succession. It hurt, it hurt more than anything Piper had experienced before. She could feel something trickle in the back of her throat and in the next moment blood was pouring out of her mouth. She would have fallen had the woman not embraced her, gently cupping the back of her neck with one hand.

Helen placed her lips against Piper's neck. She could feel the woman smile against her skin. "I've been wanting to meet you, Piper Mclean." Part of the girl stared vacantly ahead in incomprehension, but the part of the girl that was Piper shuddered in shock. "Children of Aphrodite are so rarely recognized, but you have certainly made a name for yourself now haven't you? You and the other seven. Everyone knows about you now. Tell me sister, do you know what that means?" As the woman was talking, Piper felt the blades of the remaining four monsters sink into her, one by one. Her body shook in Helen's arms. "This is a warning sister, for you and your friends. I want you to remember this moment, I want you to remember how this feels. When Soteria's dogs come for you and your little friends, remember me. I want you to know, without a shadow of a doubt, what awaits you should you ever see me again."

Helen moved to hold Piper at arm's length. "Philip, give it to her." Piper was barely aware when she felt a cold piece of metal being shoved into her hands. Belatedly she realized it was a gun. "Now watch carefully Piper, this part is important." It took a moment for Piper to realize what was happening, but she recognized the feeling, the power in the words. She knew what it was like to say something and have it be so just from the utterance. It was charmspeak, and it was on a level she never imagined was possible. "Look at me Piper." She couldn't take her eyes off of Helen. "Put the gun to your head." Piper felt her arm raise, felt the cold piece of metal against her head. "Now pull the trigger."

Piper woke up screaming.


	2. The Worst Monster

α

Jason didn't want to admit it, but Nico's absent-minded comment really rattled him.

Ever since he got his memories back, he'd felt so disconnected from them. His time in New Rome felt surreal, as if it were a dream.

He had thought it would get better when he saw New Rome again, saw all the people he'd grown up with, the legion he was raised by.

But in the end, it only made it worse. After the Argo II had fired its first round, the Romans had turned on him in seconds. He'd tried getting them to calm down, had even pleaded with them, but they wouldn't hear a word he'd said. The only thing he'd been able to do was shield Piper, put his body between her and the Romans as they tried to execute them in the old military style.

It hadn't mattered that he'd been their Praetor. Or that he'd given his whole life to the legion, right up until his involuntary disappearance.

He'd might as well have been a stranger. Just as unknown to them as Piper or Leo or Annabeth.

The legion had been the only family he'd known, but the disconnect Jason had been feeling was apparently mutual.

And the more he thought about it, the more Nico's comment bothered him.

Despite the familiar comfort and warmth of his bed, despite the fact that he had long gotten used to the thundering ceiling of Zeus Cabin, Jason couldn't find sleep. He just lay there, watched the flickering lightning lance across the dark sky.

Eventually he drifted off.

At the first scream, his eyes snapped open.

At the second, he was halfway out the door, his golden gladius in hand.

At the fifth, he was flying through the open door of Aphrodite Cabin, and redirected towards the Hypnos Cabin.

At the seventh, he was holding Piper's shaking body in his arms, while the entirety of Hypnos Cabin surrounded them. Clovis was kneeling by Piper's side, his head bowed and his eyes shut, one hand pressed to Piper's forehead. Despite his upright position, Jason knew that he wasn't conscious.

Nico was crouched next to Clovis, chanting something that Jason couldn't understand.

Drew stood out of the way after Jason took her place holding Piper, her arms crossed and unusually silent.

Jason was terrified, he didn't know what was going on and Nico just shook his head when he asked, told him that there wasn't time, told him to hold Piper, that it would help.

So he held Piper as she screamed and thrashed against him, prevented her from throwing Clovis off. His heart beat in his throat, his hands careful as he kept Piper from hurting herself.

Something shifted in the air, and the surrounding Hypnos members joined hands in a circle around them and closed their eyes.

Clovis was sweating, heavy strain in every line of his body.

The air shifted again, and the children of Hypnos seemed to brace themselves.

Nico stopped chanting, his eyes tired, and turned to Clovis. "You need to do it now."

Clovis' sleeping face grimaced, and his body wavered in its upright position.

And then his body hit the floor, along with every child of Hypnos in the cabin.

Piper's eyes snapped open mid-scream, and she blinked up at Jason, tears apparent in her kaleidoscope eyes.

"Jason?" Her voice was rough, and Jason wanted to cry from relief.

"Piper, thank the gods. There's so much blood, and I thought that--"

Piper shakily took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, I'm okay--it's not mine."

"What?"

Tears were flowing down Piper's face. "The blood, it's not mine. It's not mine." Piper was full bodied sobbing, her arms around Jason and holding on for dear life.

Jason held her, his eyes finding Nico as the boy was helping Clovis to stand up off the floor. Around them, the other Hypnos campers begun to stir as well.

"Then whose is it?"

Jason was startled at the unexpected voice, and looked over to Drew, who was leaning against the wall, her eyes on Piper.

"If the blood isn't Piper's than whose is it? How did it get here? What does it mean?"

Piper pressed her face into his chest and breathed. And then she was pulling away from him and finding her feet, Jason scrambling up after her.

Piper looked around the room, her posture straight, until her eyes found Jason's again. There was a hardness to her eyes that Jason wasn't used to. Her clothes were soaked through with hardening blood, and her face and hair were streaked with red.

In that moment, Jason thought she looked fearsome.

"Joy Stevens. That was her name. That's whose blood this is." Piper held out her red encrusted arms. "I don't know how, but I do know why."

"Joy Stevens..." Nico closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked at Piper. "Her soul is in the Underworld. She's dead. Recently."

"But how is that possible?" Jason asked.

"Oh, you do not want to know," Clovis said. He looked over at Piper. "You need to tell us everything. Camp Half-Blood is supposed to be safe, but someone found a way to attack you via _Demos Oneiroi_."

"And not only that," Nico said. His dark eyes swept over Piper. He gestured to the blood covering himself and Jason from their contact with her. "They managed to take something from your dream and bring it into reality. And that's..."

"Dangerous," Jason finished.

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me. I get it," Piper looked at the ground, and then looked up. "I'll tell you everything."

She looked at Jason.

"It was a warning."

β

After swim practice, Percy had a habit of stopping by the local sub shop a few miles from Goode.

One of his classmates had a part-time job there, and she always gave him the employee discount.

He liked to go in, make his order and his classmate blush, and sit at a table that faced the window.

Sometimes Annabeth would join him, or some of his mortal classmates, but most of the time he went alone.

But this time, after Percy was half-way done with his sandwich, crumbs and a bit of mustard on his lips, someone pulled out the seat opposite him and joined him at his table.

By this point in his life, Percy had been attacked more times than he could count and in more unusual ways than he could remember. So after he put his sandwich down, he wiped at his mouth with one hand and felt around in his pocket for Riptide with the other.

The person who joined him was a man somewhere in his twenties. His skin was dark, a fascinating contrast to the deep blue of his eyes. He was tall, with the broad shoulders of a linebacker, and the long sleeves of his dress shirt did nothing to hide the definition of his arms.

Looking at him, the man didn't appear to be a monster disguised by mist, but stranger things had happened and in Percy's personal experience, being approached by random strangers didn't tend to end well.

They eyed each other for a minute, before the man smiled.

"So, this is the son of Poseidon I've heard so much about."

Percy bristled, and pulled out Riptide from his pocket. "What's it to you?"

The man held up his hands. "Relax, I'm no monster. My name is Dominik, and I'm a son of Invidia. And I've come a long way to meet you, you know?"

"And the reason you did this is..."

"A job proposition."

Percy stared at him. "You want to offer me a job? Oh gods, this is a quest, isn't it? I thought the Oracle was out of commission."

Dominik laughed. "No, no, this isn't a quest. But tell me Percy Jackson, have you ever considered your future?"

"That depends, how far into the future are we talking about?"

"I'm talking about the rest of your adult life. What do you plan to do? Go to college? Get a job that is nothing less than meaningless, in comparison to what you and your friends have already accomplished."

"If by meaningless you mean non-life threatening, than yes, that is exactly what I plan to do," Percy said.

Dominik said nothing for a minute, and Percy watched his eyes sweep around the other customers in the shop. "Say Percy, have you ever thought about the kind of life you could lead in the mortal world?"

"...what are you talking about. I already live in the mortal world."

"That's not what I meant. Look around you Percy. Every day, the mortals go about life with no idea of the monsters around them. The mist spares them of the knowledge, but it spares them from little else. While monsters will always prioritize the blood of demigods, it is not uncommon for them to go after mortals. If a mortal is ever killed by a monster, very rarely will they see it as an animal. Usually, they only ever see a human. And it's funny really, how much truth there is in that illusion."

"I'm not following."

"Think about it Percy. You've spent your life fighting monsters. But you, more than anyone, should understand. The worst monster is always the one in front of the mirror."

Percy felt his stomach drop to his feet. "How do you-"

"It doesn't matter. The point is, you are far from the first demigod to feed their darker impulses. And really, that's why I'm here. When I asked you about the kind of life that you could lead, I was glad for your answer. Because that means you never thought about it, it never even occurred to you."

"Never thought about what?"

Domink looked at the table, and than looked back at Percy. "You never thought about what you could do as a powerful demigod in a world of unsuspecting mortals. You never thought about the way you could use the mist, the way you could manipulate minds and cover up your every indiscretion. You never thought yourself as more than them, more deserving, better. You never thought about the money you could make, or the vices you could satisfy. It never occurred to you that you could kill everyone in this shop, pin it on your friend at the order counter, walk away drenched in blood, and no one would look at you twice so long as you used the mist correctly."

Percy felt a growing sense of horror. "But-no one would-but what about the gods?'

Dominik laughed. "Shouldn't you know by now? The gods never did clean up their own messes. And when their kids go rogue...well, that's just another mess handed off to us. Typical, isn't it? Mind you, we do have a patron." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a business card, and handed it to Percy.

The card was almost completely white, besides two bolded words that read: _Soteria's Circle_.

"Think about it Percy. You could waste your life and your potential laboring in the mortal world, or you could protect it. I'm not going to lie to you. It won't be easy, or pretty; and it just might be the most dangerous thing you have ever done. But the mortals can't protect themselves, not from people like us. And we could really use people like you and your friends. Facing Gaea like you did, well, what are a few crazy demigods in comparison to that, right? I'll be in touch."

At that, Dominic pushed back his seat and took his exit, and Percy was left at the table with one half sandwich, one pristine business card, and his whole future in question.


	3. The First  Fissure

α

After Piper explained what happened to her while she was asleep, a heavy stillness fell upon Hypnos Cabin. The cabin's environment usually felt odd, its campers perpetually dazed, always occupying the in-between of sleep and wakefulness. But this was different. And Nico had never seen Clovis so wide awake.

"We need to see Chiron. Right now," his face was pale, and he wrapped his arms around himself like he was warding off the cold.

After glancing at Piper, Drew volunteered to wake Chiron. Nico, Jason, and Piper hastily made their way to the Big House. Nico gave Clovis a questioning look as he hung back, but he promised to hurry behind them after having some words with his cabin mates.

Soon enough Nico found himself seated at the ping-pong table, still in his pirate-skull themed pajamas. He would have been embarrassed any other time, if not for the blood that covered them, if not for how it got there.

Jason sat next to him on his right, Piper curling into her boyfriend's side. Clovis wondered in shortly after. The four of them made one of the strangest gatherings of camp counselors. It was a meeting of bed head, pajamas, blood, and a fear of falling asleep.

Chiron entered the rec room, Drew trailing after him. He took one look at them, his sleep weary eyes sharpening.

"What has happened?"

Piper told him about her dream.

And as she finished her story, Chiron had this look about him, like he was staring Thanatos right in the eyes, a breath away from oblivion.

"Soteria's dogs? Are you sure that's what she said?"

Piper nodded. "Yes. She said it like an insult. Right before she..." Piper's breath hitched. Jason, from his spot next to her, moved to offer her comfort, maybe put an arm around her, but she shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm the one who's fine but-" She put her hand to her mouth.

"Attacked in our dreams," Jason frowned. "I've never heard of it before. How is it possible?" He looked to Clovis.

"That kind of thing-it's not supposed to happen. It just isn't done. There are lines you're not supposed to cross," Clovis caught Nico's gaze from across the table.

"Yeah well, somebody didn't get the memo," Drew said.

Chiron looked like he'd aged ten years in the past few minutes, the streaks of grey in his hair that much more noticeable, the lines of his face deeper.

"An oneiric attack. We never considered the possibility when we decided on the camp's defenses."

"Of course not," Nico looked at the table. "You were trying to keep out monsters. And monsters...no monster would have been able to do it. They don't dream."

Piper rubbed her arm. "She called me sister," she looked at Clovis. "How did they do it?"

"I'm not quite sure. When I went into Demos Oneiroi, the Land of Dreams, to pull you back...you weren't there." He tapped his fingers on the table. "It was scary. I couldn't find you anywhere. I needed my entire cabin's help just to find you. And when I did," he shuddered. "I needed Nico to bring you back."

Piper paled and looked at Nico. "Bring...me back?"

"Not in the way you're thinking," Nico waved his hands in the air. "More like you were trapped."

Clovis nodded. "I'm not one hundred percent sure on the details, but-if I had to guess?" He shrugged. "When people dream, especially demigods, they tend to wonder. And in Demos Oneiroi, they can go anywhere, sometimes even the past or future. I myself have pulled people off course before, had them compelled to wander in my direction but," he looked at Piper. "Someone got a hold of you. They sent you where they wanted. And somehow they...projected you out of Demos Oneiroi, and trapped you inside that girl."

Piper was quiet for a moment. "And that's why you needed Nico to get me out? Because she was..."

"Dead," Nico finished for her.

"Okay," Drew raised an eyebrow. "As interesting as it must be to, you know, be trapped inside a dead body, what can I do to avoid that?"

Chiron put a hand to his chin. "We will need counter measures. But I pray they won't be necessary for everyone. If things get too out of hand-to think they'd be bold enough to try something here."

"Chiron?" Jason asked.

Chiron sighed. He rubbed at his mouth, then looked at them. "What I'm about to tell you. It's considered taboo. You have to swear on The River Styx. Nothing I tell you leaves this room."

Nico exchanged looks with Jason. It was weird but-most things they weren't supposed to know about, there was a reason for it.

They all swore.

"The gods have had many children over the centuries. Most of them, especially in the old days, don't make it past their awakening, usually around their twelfth year. The gods, up until Percy Jackson held them to an oath otherwise for recompense for his service during the Battle of Olympus, did nothing to ensure the lives of their children. Now, they are required to claim their children by their thirteenth birthday, and told about the safety of camp instead of being left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters." Chiron looked around the table, his mouth set in a heavy frown. "However, they never would have done so otherwise, had Percy not demanded they swear on the River Styx. The gods...consider a demigod's ability to survive long enough on their own until a satyr finds them, and the subsequent journey to camp, to be a good culling method."

Across the table, Nico saw Drew tense.

"Their strongest offspring survive, without the burden of protecting the weak. It's much the same on the Roman side, only more...direct. The wolf Lupa finds them after their awakening, tests them. The strong get escorted to Camp Jupiter. The weak get put down."

Beside him, Nico could practically feel Jason stiffen in his seat.

"Over the years, the obvious lack of sentiment the god's held for their children has caused some bitterness. And from that bitterness rose the Adrestia Syndicate."

Nico looked at the table. Adrestia. The goddess of just retribution and revolt.

"It was founded centuries ago. Initially, it was a group of unclaimed demigods that left the camp at the time. They were unhappy with the way of things, and thought they could do better than the status quo at camp. They built their own demigod community, and made it their mission to seek out the demigods left behind."

Chiron sighed. "It was a noble ideal but...somewhere along the way everything went wrong. I don't know how or why or even when. The Adrestia Syndicate was largely a community of demigods that would otherwise been left to die. They grew resentful of the gods, of their claimed brothers and sisters, and eventually, most of all, the oblivious mortal public. And before I knew it, there were rumors of demigods abusing their powers, abusing the mist."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"And the gods...what did they do about it?" Jason asked quietly.

"That's just the thing. They did nothing. The gods, other than conscripting demigods into quests, largely stay out of the affairs of their children. The Syndicate figured it out. If the gods wouldn't interfere on behalf of the lives of their children, then they wouldn't interfere at all." Chiron looked at the table. "Even after all this time, even with Luke. He amassed an army, but the gods only came to meet him in battle when he was on their doorstep. When he was a direct threat to their reign. Otherwise, he wasn't their problem. With the Adrestia Syndicate, it's the same."

Piper groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Let me guess. It's our problem, isn't it. Along with every other mess the gods create and expect us to fix."

Nico looked at his hands and picked at some of the dried blood. He felt exhausted somehow, a heavy weight on his shoulders. He laughed, weak and bitter. "Of course. It's why they have children, after all."

Chiron's mouth was a thin line, and Nico could feel Jason looking at him.

"...yes. In response to the threat on the mortal public, another group of demigods was formed. They call themselves Soteria's Circle."

Piper's eyes widened. "So what she meant by Soteria's dogs..."

Chiron nodded. "It's basically war between them. And going to war with other demigods, especially ones like these...is very different from fighting monsters. And because of this, they tend to exclusively recruit demigods of much renown."

Jason let out a breath. "The seven. Great."

Nico caught his eyes. "And it looks like someone doesn't want that to happen."

"Enough to kill someone over, just to send a message," Piper rubbed at her arms.

Chiron looked at her. "Don't feel guilt over it. I assure you, they have killed for much less."

"Chiron, why did we have to swear not to speak about this to the others?" Drew crossed her arms. "Shouldn't we know about this?"

"The existence of Soteria's Circle, and especially Adrestia Syndicate; you aren't supposed to know about it in the same way you weren't supposed to know about Camp Jupiter. For two reasons. One, they believe that knowledge of the Syndicate may cause more demigods to seek them out, and they want to inhibit their numbers. Every demigod part of the Syndicate is a demigod unavailable to them. Second, they don't want unqualified demigods confronting them. It can get very ugly if it happens, and can create a conflict with the camp at large, which would be a disaster."

Clovis furrowed his eyebrows. "So then, another attack is unlikely right? I'm guessing one of the reasons we never heard of them before is because they would like to remain unknown to us. They just wanted to scare off the seven."

Chiron frowned. "I would think so, but we can't be sure. Clovis, I would like you to figure out some way to prevent what happened to Piper from happening again. Some way to safeguard the journey into Demos Oneiroi. An attack on the camp as a whole is unlikely, but we don't know if they'll try something on any of the seven again."

Clovis bit his lip. "I'm still not sure exactly how they did it but-I'll try my best."

"Thanks Clovis," Piper smiled encouragingly at him, and he looked away from her, a blush rising to his cheeks.

"S-Sure!"

Drew snorted.

Nico looked at Chiron. "We swore not to tell anybody what you told us but-Hazel and the rest of the seven need to know. We don't know if they'll try anything else. We need to warn them."

Chiron sighed. "Yes. I'll send a message to New Rome and try to get them here as soon as possible. I'll explain it to them then. Besides, it would be best to get the seven together. It will make things easier."

Jason raised his eyebrows. "Easier?"

Chiron nodded. "Yes. I expect the Circle will come along soon."

β

As they were leaving the rec room, Clovis took Nico aside. Nico waved Jason on when he stopped in question, and Nico watched as he escorted Piper back the way of her cabin, Drew following the other girl closely. When they were out of visual range, he turned back to Clovis.

"Be careful. I get the feeling that we were able to get to Piper because they wanted us to. I think...they could have made it a lot harder. More dangerous."Clovis swallowed. "Next time, if there is a next time-my cabin, I don't know if I can ask them to go through that."

"Do you have any idea on how to stop it from happening?"

"Not a clue. I'll let you know as soon as I have something. I'll probably need your help anyway."

Nico nodded. "I don't know how much help I'll be, but anything I can do, I'll do it. Hazel, and Jason and everyone...whatever you need."

It was around two in the morning when Nico got back to his cabin. He took a long hot shower and used more soap then he probably used in his whole life, his mind wandering as he watched red tinted water run down the drain.

He tried not to think about it, but his mind kept going back to Chiron's words. It was Bianca's twelfth year when the manticore found them, when they were swept away into the demigod life. Bianca was twelve years old when she died.

Hades hadn't claimed either of them. Maybe, if she had known, she would have been able to tap into the powers of the Underworld. Maybe, if she had known, she wouldn't have died. It was a painful thought to have. It was a painful thought, to know that she was considered weak. To the gods, just another child unable to make it past twelve years old. Just another child unworthy.

Bianca was one of the strongest people he knew.

By the time he stepped out of the shower, his stomach was sick and his eyes were wet. He didn't bother drying his hair, just changed into a new set of pajamas and collapsed in bed.

He laid there for awhile, eyes on the dark ceiling, thinking about Piper and the attack, about the Syndicate and the Circle, about the seven, about Bianca.

He thought about the danger of dreams.

After a while, he sighed and sat up. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight anyway.

He shadow traveled to Jason's cabin.


End file.
